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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Really great pair of books about really smart kids figuring out things about the world and themselves and family.
i rly enjoy this series. not as delightful as the first but still rly good. i like dad island
Merged review:
i rly enjoy this series. not as delightful as the first but still rly good. i like dad island
Merged review:
i rly enjoy this series. not as delightful as the first but still rly good. i like dad island
I am... conflicted.
There were aspects of this book that I absolutely loved, but there were also aspects that I didn't.
I loved the plot line with Yasmany. I said in my review of book one that I hoped to see him more in this book, and we most certainly did! The whole storyline following him was really interesting and emotive and I loved every single second of it! I cried, I laughed, I smeeped. This whole storyline was utterly phenomenal and by far my favourite part of the book!
The characters were still so amazing and diverse! Each character continued to get their own development and were all still so interesting. Gabi is just as Gabi as ever and Sal really got to grow in this novel, which was great! This series already had a lot of representation with different races and family structures, but this book also officially confirmed that Sal is asexual, which is a really great addition, especially in a middle grade story.
The main contemporary-esque plots of this book were so phenomenal and the parts that surrounded the characters and relationships were amazing. My main issue with this book is the more sci-fi elements, specifically their pacing.
This book is the second book in a duology - it is book two of two. My main issue is that the Big Bad, the antihero, the villain, is introduced halfway through this book, ie 75% of the way through the series. Therefore, the whole plot line with her felt so rushed and the pacing was kind off as a result.
To be honest, the pacing in the sci-fi parts were kinda off and it made those elements less enjoyable for me, which is so disappointing because that was my favourite aspect in the first book.
So yeah, I'm conflicted. There are aspects of this book that I adored and would probably be five stars. there are aspects that I didn't like and would probably be a 2-3. All I know is that overall, this book was not as enjoyable as the first book, hence the three star rating. I still recommend this book, though! Carlos Hernandez's characters are worth it!
There were aspects of this book that I absolutely loved, but there were also aspects that I didn't.
I loved the plot line with Yasmany. I said in my review of book one that I hoped to see him more in this book, and we most certainly did! The whole storyline following him was really interesting and emotive and I loved every single second of it! I cried, I laughed, I smeeped. This whole storyline was utterly phenomenal and by far my favourite part of the book!
The characters were still so amazing and diverse! Each character continued to get their own development and were all still so interesting. Gabi is just as Gabi as ever and Sal really got to grow in this novel, which was great! This series already had a lot of representation with different races and family structures, but this book also officially confirmed that Sal is asexual, which is a really great addition, especially in a middle grade story.
The main contemporary-esque plots of this book were so phenomenal and the parts that surrounded the characters and relationships were amazing. My main issue with this book is the more sci-fi elements, specifically their pacing.
This book is the second book in a duology - it is book two of two. My main issue is that the Big Bad, the antihero, the villain, is introduced halfway through this book, ie 75% of the way through the series. Therefore, the whole plot line with her felt so rushed and the pacing was kind off as a result.
To be honest, the pacing in the sci-fi parts were kinda off and it made those elements less enjoyable for me, which is so disappointing because that was my favourite aspect in the first book.
So yeah, I'm conflicted. There are aspects of this book that I adored and would probably be five stars. there are aspects that I didn't like and would probably be a 2-3. All I know is that overall, this book was not as enjoyable as the first book, hence the three star rating. I still recommend this book, though! Carlos Hernandez's characters are worth it!
hmmm I LOVED [b:Sal and Gabi Break the Universe|36595887|Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (Sal and Gabi, #1)|Carlos Hernandez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1536087897l/36595887._SY75_.jpg|58346652] so I was stoked to get an ARC of the sequel on NetGalley. I get books on NetGalley regularly and I know these advance copies aren't yet ready for publication etc so I don't hold it against the final copy, but I have to note that this ARC was WILD in terms of capitalization, or lack thereof? Like almost no character's name was ever capitalized, which was distracting and made me wonder....does Carlos Hernadez just write his drafts entirely in lower case?? Are the characters all devotees of ee cummings and/or bell hooks??? Anyway presumably the final version will not have that but I just wanted to mention it.
ok anyway something that IS probably in the final version is just like a distracting gender issue, which is that their teacher Srx. Cosquillas makes a big deal about how he's using the gender neutral title "Srx" and in the future everyone will use "Srx" (instead of "Sr." or "Sra/Srta"). Fine, great, I'm on board BUT he also calls all of his students "dude" and "dudes" all the time? I would accept this if he made a mention of "I also believe dude is gender neutral" or something like that, an argument I've heard from others and would be fine with, but...he never mentions it and his self-described smart-aleck students never call out the contradiction.
ALSO Gabi has 7 dads, fine, this was lightly mentioned in the last book but in this book we spent more time with the dads and I just want to know why one of the dads is a woman? She has a mom and then 7 dads and one dad is a woman who does not seem to be gender non-conforming or anything along those lines. Is "Dad" a gender neutral term? Why can't she have 2 moms and 6 dads. Again, if "Cari-Dad" (the female dad) would give like a 1-sentence explanation of why she prefers to be a dad I would be fine with it but SHE NEVER DOES AND NO ONE DOES AND I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING A MOM???
anyway these are minor points that occupied a disproportionate amount of my thoughts while reading this. Is this why I liked it less than I liked the first one or is it genuinely also a weaker story? hard to say, hard to say. I still like these characters; I personally think this got a little carried away with an ambitious multiverse plot + literal talking toilet humor + a very large cast of characters? But still I think there's a lot to like here and most tween readers will probably be more into the toilet humor and less distracted by my above issues.
ok anyway something that IS probably in the final version is just like a distracting gender issue, which is that their teacher Srx. Cosquillas makes a big deal about how he's using the gender neutral title "Srx" and in the future everyone will use "Srx" (instead of "Sr." or "Sra/Srta"). Fine, great, I'm on board BUT he also calls all of his students "dude" and "dudes" all the time? I would accept this if he made a mention of "I also believe dude is gender neutral" or something like that, an argument I've heard from others and would be fine with, but...he never mentions it and his self-described smart-aleck students never call out the contradiction.
ALSO Gabi has 7 dads, fine, this was lightly mentioned in the last book but in this book we spent more time with the dads and I just want to know why one of the dads is a woman? She has a mom and then 7 dads and one dad is a woman who does not seem to be gender non-conforming or anything along those lines. Is "Dad" a gender neutral term? Why can't she have 2 moms and 6 dads. Again, if "Cari-Dad" (the female dad) would give like a 1-sentence explanation of why she prefers to be a dad I would be fine with it but SHE NEVER DOES AND NO ONE DOES AND I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING A MOM???
anyway these are minor points that occupied a disproportionate amount of my thoughts while reading this. Is this why I liked it less than I liked the first one or is it genuinely also a weaker story? hard to say, hard to say. I still like these characters; I personally think this got a little carried away with an ambitious multiverse plot + literal talking toilet humor + a very large cast of characters? But still I think there's a lot to like here and most tween readers will probably be more into the toilet humor and less distracted by my above issues.
I liked this book even better than its predecessor! All I can say is I hope more Sal and Gabi books are in the works. I cannot wait to get this into the hands of my students! (More detailed review to follow)